File cabinet



July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER' FILE CABINET l7 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled March 15, 1966 has y 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINETOriginalFiled March 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 9, 1968 OriginalFiled March 15, 1966 o. SCHREYER 3,391,967

FILE CABINET l7 Sheets-Sheet :3

17 Sheets$heet 5 K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINET July 9, 1968 Original FiledMarch 15, 1966 m9 os wgf E mdE July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,391,967

FILE CABINET Original Filed March 15, 1966 1'7 Sheets-Sheet 6 mvv mmvomv wmm EN (0% E oE 4/8N y 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,39

FILE CABINET Original Filed March 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 7 232 KG FIG.l5 22L 238 237 226 2 ZOI 17 heets-Sheet 8 K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINETJuly 9, 1968 Original Filed March 15, 1966 in man 2w M 9h as 5% i & vm

K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINET July 9, 1968 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 OriginalFiled March 15, 1966 wwm v m wmm mum W July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER FILECABINET 17 heets-Sheet 10 Original Filed March 15, 1966 J av y 1968 K.D. SCHRIEYER 3,391,

FILE CAB INE'I' Original Filed March 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 11 I80FIG. 28 413 FIG. 27

FIG. 29

July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,391,967

FILE CABINET l7 Sheets-Sheet 1:3

Original Filed March 15, 1966 FIG. 3|

ii BIO I I 1/! In y 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,39

FILE CABINET Original Filed March 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 13 July 9,1968 K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINET l7 Sheets-Sheet 14 Original Filed March15, 1966 M (.1 7 M 6 I a I F & k M F G l H 6 m m w F L M m 8 78H 0 7 E2BR 9 m 8 9 w ma 04 w 2 4. 22 mm? 3 2/ M w. T46. 7 m m mi x n 3 i F 0 4 23 2 2 w a 2 w July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER FILE CABINET 17 Sheets-Sheet15 Original Filed March 15, 1966 m3 EN! EN EN am mmml. ow?

Now mmm mmm 0mm NON 5N mt 0mm 5 T Ev oI mm 5N mwN mmm

FILE CABINET Original Filed Marbh 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 16 mom In AllIv m wm ONN

July 9, 1968 K. D. SCHREYER 3,

FILE CABINET Original Filed March 15, 1966 17 Sheets-Sheet 1? wow m3 8w6N,

0mm 00m mom a wow m g mwm Ovw v N ll Now 2m ND 0E QM :N u w oam mm T 8m2 J mm- 31.1 8m mmm m8 Zoom J8 RN r J n 081 x mom W m8 0% MO 0 m Y WOTTL a 0; m8)

mmm

mmm CNN 3,391,967 Patented July 9, 1968 Un t States] Pa e Qfie Originalapplication Mar. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 534,382. Divided and thisapplication June. 12, 1967, Ser. No.

662,221 Claims. (Cl. 312257) V ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE one of theside walls, first bodies of mastic disposed between the front frame andthe side walls, the side walls being welded to the front frame at theprojections thereon, a center support positioned between the side Wallsand disposed toward but spaced from and substantially parallel to thefront frame and including a plurality of projections extending outwardlytoward the adjacent one of the side walls, a top covering the areabounded by the rear wall and the side walls and having flanges extendingdownwardly around the periphery thereof and covering the adjacent upperends of the rear wall and the side wall and secured thereto andextending forwardly beyond the front frame, bottom flanges integral withthe bottom edges of the body and extending inwardly with respectthereto, and a bottom wall mounted on the bottom flanges and securedthereto and including a front flange extending upwardly between the sidewalls and covering at least a portion of the front frame; adrawer-disposed in the case upon a pair of drawer suspensionstructureseach including a case rail mounted on the case and a neutral memberdisposed about the case rail and a drawer rail overlying and disposedabout the neutral member and mounted on the drawer, the adjacentportions of the case'rail and the neutral member defining two inner ballraces having first sets of balls disposed therein, and

the neutral member and the drawer rail defining two outer ballracestherebetween and having a second pair of balls disposed therein,the drawer being mounted on the drawer rail by pairs of drawer clips onopposite sides thereof and drawer brackets mounted adjacent to theforward ends of the drawer rails and overlying the adjacent one of thedrawer clips to hold the drawer on the drawer rail, and a downturnedrear flange on the rear of each of the drawer clips engaging the rear oftheassociated drawer rail and preventing the front end of the drawerfrom being lifted off the drawer rail due to the drawer brackets thereonuntil the rear of the drawer has been lifted and the drawer moved bodilyrearwardly to clear the drawer brackets from the associated drawerclips; the drawer having a drawer head formed of an outer front wallfixedly disposed with respect'to the bottom side Walls thereof and aninner front wall removably mountedthereon with a body of rigid cellularconstruction disposed therebetween and adhesively secured thereto; thereis also provided an improved combination pull and latch and acooperating improved lock structure for latching and locking the drawerwith respect to the case; and finally, there has been provided in thehousing of the case knockouts which can be removed to provide alignedopenings between adjacent cases through which a fastener can be insertedfor interconnecting adjacent cases to form an integrated row of cases.

This application is a divisional application of the copendingapplication Ser. No. 534,382 filed Mar. 15, 1966, now Patent No.3,368,859, for File Cabinet.

This invention relates to file cabinet constructions, and particularlyto improved file cases therefor.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved case fora file cabinet including specifically an improved front frame and animproved center frame or support that prevent the case from racking whenone corner of the case is lifted.

In connection with the foregoing object, another object of the inventionis to provide an improved file cabinet case wherein the front and centerframes are of ladder construction incorporating cross members of uniqueand improved design, the frames being welded to the outer walls of thecase to provide good connection therewith. Yet another object of theinvention is to provide an improved file cabinet case of the type setforth wherein a layer of mastic is disposed between the outer walls ofthe case and the frames at the areas of attachment therebetween toprovide extra bonding good sound deadening qualities therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved structure forinterconnecting a pair of adjacent file cabinet cases to form anassembled unit therefrom.

Further features of the invention pertain to the particular arrangementof the parts and the interconnection thereof whereby the above-outlinedand additional operating features thereof are attained.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood by reference to the following specification taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a file cabinet made in accordance andembodying therein the principles of the present invention, athree-drawer file cabinet having been shown for purposes ofillustration;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the file cabinet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view in vertical section along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is a fragmentary view in vertical section along the lines 3B3Bof FIG. 2, the bottom cross brace, the front frame and the side wallbeing omitted;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the interconnection of two file cabinet casewalls to interconnect the same;

FIG. 5 is a view in horizontal section through the file cabinet of FIG.3A along the line 5-5 thereof; I

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of one of the frame members in thefile cabinet;

FIG. 7 is a view in horizontal section through the file cabinet of FIG.3 along the line 77 thereof;

FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of another one of the frame membersused in the file cabinet case;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the lefthand side of the centersupport of the case;

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the center support of the case;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the righthand side of the centersupport of the case;

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the center support of the case;

FIG. 13 is a view in vertical longitudinal section through a filedrawer;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary the operation of the compressorplate;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the portion of the drawer head within thecircle identified by the numeral 15 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of the portion of the drawer head within thecircle identified by the numeral 16 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary schematic view illustrating an assembly of theinner Wall of the drawer head;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the portion of the drawer head within thecircle identified by the numeral 18 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 19 is a view in vertical section along the line 1919 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged view with certain portions broken away of theupper portion of a drawer forming a part of the present invention andillustrating particularly the combination pull and latch structuremounted thereon, the parts being shown in the latching position thereof;

FIG. 21 is a view in vertical section along the line 2121 of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a view similar to FIG. 20 showing the parts in the releaseposition thereof;

FIG. 23 is a view in vertical section along th line 2323 of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one end of the latch bar asseen along the line 24-24 of FIG. 20;

FIG. 25 is an enlarged exploded view in perspective of the parts formingthe combination pull and latch illustrated in FIGS. 20 to 24;

FIG. 26 is an enlarged fragmentary View in vertical section along theline 2626 of FIG. 7 and illustrating a portion of the locking mechanism;

FIG. 27 is a partial view in horizontal section with certain portionsbroken away along the line 2727 of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a fragmentary vertical view along the line 2828 of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a fragmentary view of the upper righthand corner of the filecabinet case as seen along the line 2929 of FIG. 26;

FIG. 30 is an enlarged fragmentary view with certain parts broken awayand illustrating the latching and locking mechanisms, the section beingtaken substantially along the line 30-30 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 31 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the interconnectionbetween the case frame and the side walls thereof;

FIG. 32 is a rear perspective view of a file drawer and the associatedsuspension structure therefor;

FIGS. 33 to 35 are diagrammatic side elevational views of FIG. 32illustrating the removal of the drawer from the suspension structuretherefor;

FIG. 36 is an enlarged side elevational view of the drawer rail of thesuspension system;

FIG. 37 is an end elevational view of the drawer rail of FIG. 36;

FIG. 38 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the outer ball cage;

FIG. 39 is an end elevational view of the ball cage of FIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a view in section along the line 40-40 of FIG. 38;

FIG. 41 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the neutral member;

FIG. 42 is an end elevational view of the neutral member of FIG. 41;

FIG. 43 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the inner ball cage;

FIG. 44 is a fragmentary side elevational view with certain parts brokenaway of the righthand case rail;

FIG. 45 is an end view of the case rail of FIG. 44;

FIG. 46 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the drawer suspension systemillustrating the interconnection of the various parts thereof;

view illustrating FIG. 47 is a fragmentary view in vertical sectionalong the line 47-47 of FIG. 46;

FIG. 48 is a fragmentary view in vertical section along the line 4848 ofFIG. 46;

FIG. 49 is an enlarged plan view of the parts enclosed within the circledesignated 49 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 50 is an enlarged fragmentary view in horizontal section throughthe lefthand side of the file cabinet case as seen along the line 5050of FIG. 3;

FIG. 51 is a fragmentary view in vertical section through the filecabinet as seen along the line 5151.o-f FIG. 3;

FIG. 52 is a rear view of one of the drawers in FIG. 51 as seen alongthe line 52-52 thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, there is illustrated a file cabinet made in accordance with andemboding the principles of the present invention, a three-drawer filecabinet having three drawers therein having been shown for purposes ofillustration. The file cabinet 100 includes a case 101, a top 180, abase 190 and three file drawers 200 disposed therein. Each of the filedrawers 200 is provided with the combination pull and latch 310 and alock 400 is provided for locking the drawers 200 in the fully closedpositions illustrated.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 12 of the drawings, additional details ofconstruction of the case 101 will be described. The case 101 includes abody 102 (see particularly FIG. 5) including a substantially rectangularrear wall 103 and a pair of substantially rectangular side walls 104extending forwardly therefrom and disposed substantially perpendicularthereto and parallel to each other. The upper edge of the rear wall 103carries a top rear flange (not shown) offset inwardly and the upperedges of the side walls 104 carry top side flanges 106 that are likewiseoffset inwardly (see FIG. 3), cutouts (not shown) being provided at therear corners to accommodate such offsetting of the named flanges. Thelower edge of the rear wall 103 likewise carries a bottom rear flange(not shown) disposed substantially normal to the wall 103 and extendinginwardly and the lower edges of the side walls 104 likewise carryinwardly directed bottom side flanges 109 disposed substantiallyperpendicular thereto. The forward edges of the side walls 104 carryinwardly and rearwardly directed front flanges 110 (see FIG. 5) disposedat an acute angle of approximately 45 with respect to the associatedside wall 104, the flanges 110 extending vertically substantially theentire height of the case 101. Provided in each of the four corners ofthe side walls 104 are indentations or partial slits forming knockouts(see FIG. 1), the knockouts 115 being flush and substantially square inshape and being readily removable upon being hit by a tool to providesquare openings for interconnecting adjacent cases 101 as will bedescribed more fully hereinafter.

Disposed at the forward portion of the case 101 is a front frame 120,the details of construction of which are best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and5 to 8, inclusive, and from these views it will be seen that the frameincludes a pair of vertically arranged channels 121 that are generallyU-shaped in cross section, each including a main wall 122 and a pair ofside flanges 123. The channels 121 extend substantially the entireheight of the cabinet 100 and are joined at the upper ends thereof by atop cross brace 130, the cross brace being generally U-shaped in crosssection and including a substantially rectangular main wall 131 (seeFIG. 6) on the upper edge of which is disposed a top flange 132extending substantially normal to the main wall 131. The main wall 131has a lower edge 133 that curves downwardly at the ends thereof and isprovided thereon with a correspondingly shaped bottom flange 134. Therefurther is formed in the main wall 131 a generally rectangular slot 135which receives the locking mechanism to be described more fullyhereinafter.

Referring to FIG 3, it will be seen that the top cross brace 130 issecured as by welding to the rear one of the side flanges 123 on thechannels 121. The lower ends of 5. the channels 121 are likewiseconnected by a bottom cross brace 140 which includes a main wall 141disposed substantially vertically, a bottom flange 142 disposed alongthe lower edge of the main wall 141 and extending rearwardly therefromand substantially normal thereto, the upper edge 143 of the cross brace140 being curved upwardly at the outer ends and carrying thereon a topflange 144 extending rearwardly therefrom. The main wall 141 is suitablysecured as by welding to the rearmost one of the side flanges 123 of thelower ends of the channels 121 whereby to interconnect the same. To thisend it is noted that the construction of the bottom brace 140 isidentical to that of the top cross brace 130, except that no slot 135 isprovided therein.

Finally, two center'tie braces 150 are provided interconnecting thechannels 121 at points. disposed between the adjacent ones of thedrawers 200. The construction of each of the center tie braces 150 issubstantially. identical one to the other and referring to FIG. 8 itwill be seen that each comprises a main wall 151 having a narrow centralportion 152 and upwardly and outwardly extending top edges thatterminate in the broadest portions of the main wall 151 at the outerends thereof. A top flange 154 is provided on the upper edge 153 on themain wall 151 and includes a relatively wide central portion 155 fromwhich extend laterally and outwardly two upwardly directed portions 156that extend to the outer edges of the main wall 151. The lower edge 157on the main wall 151 curves downwardly at the outer ends thereof as at158 and carries thereon a bottom flange 159 disposed substantiallynormal to the main wall 151. Each of the center tie braces 150 issuitably secured as by welding to the rearmost one of the side flanges123 of the front frame channels 121, the flanges 154 and 159 beingdirected rearwardly. Also mounted on the lower ends of the channels 121and specifically on the forwardmost one of the side flanges 123 thereof:are base clips 160 (see FIG. 3) each including an attachment flange 161secured as by welding to the adjacent channel 121, an outwardlyextendingwall 162 disposed substantially normal to the flange 161 andterminating in a holding flange 163 directed inwardly.

Also disposed within the case 101 and between the side walls 104intermediate the front and rear-edges thereof is a center support 170,the details of construction .of which are best illustrated in FIGS. to12, of the drawings'The center support 170 includes a pair of upstandingchannels 171 that are generally U-shaped in cross section and eachincluding a main wall172 and a pair of vertically and outwardlyextending side'flanges 173, the upper and lower ends of each of the sideflanges 173 carrying cutouts 174 therein. Suitably connected as bywelding to the rearmost one of the flanges 173 are two of the center tiebraces 150, the tie braces 150 on the center support 170 being ingeneral longitudinal alignment with the tie braces 150 on the frontframe 120;. I

Referring to FIG. 31, the manner of interconnecting the side walls 104and the front frame 120 and the center support 170 is illustrated. Thereis shown in FIG. 31 a portion of one of the front channels 121 and itwill be seen. that the side flanges 123 thereof have been struck ordeformed as at 128 to'provide outwardly extending welding projections125 'on each of the outer edges of the side flanges 123, the weldingprojections 125 being preferably arranged in pairs as illustrated.Applied to'the inner surface of the side wall 104 are two strips ofmastic 145, the layer 145 being approximately thick and approximately /2wide and being disposed opposite the welding projections 125. Preferablythe mastic in 'the layer 145 is a heat curing resin such as that soldunder the trademark Presstite No. 719. The side wall 104 is welded tothe projections 125 and during the welding operation the syntheticorganic resin forming a part of the mastic in the layer 145is partiallycured and subsequent heating of the cabinet 100-during the drying of thepaint thereon serves fully to cure the resin in the mastic layer 145.The resultant bond between the side walls 104 and the front frame andbetween the side walls 104 and thecenter support is unusually strong andin addition serves to deaden sound transmission between the variousparts.

A top.180 is provided to cover the areadefined by the rear wall 103 andthe side walls 104, the top including a front flange 181 on the forwardedge thereof, a pair of side flanges 182 on the side edges thereof and arear flange 183 on the rear edge thereof, the various flanges namedbeing disposed substantially normal to the top 180 and being joined atthe four corners thereof and fitting over and receiving therein the topflanges on the upper edges of the rear wall 103 and the side walls 104of the body 102, seeFIG. 3, for example. By this construction, the outersurface of the various top flanges 182 and-183aredisposed in verticalalignment with the associated body walls, and more specifically theouter surfaces of the flanges lie in the same plane as the outersurfaces of the associated body walls. A bottom 185 is disposed incontact with the bottom flanges of the body 102 and is secured theretoas by welding to close the lower end of the case 101, the bottom 185including a front flange 186 extending upwardly between the side walls104, the flange 186 covering at least a portion of the front frame 120.Finally, a base 190- is provided closing the space between the bottom185 and the lower edge of the bottommost drawer 200, the base 190including a front wall 191 that extends upwardly and is suitably securedto the base clips 160 as by welding, the base 190- covering the bottomfront flange 186.

The resultant completed file cabinet case 101 is unusually rigid andstrong and is essentially of unitary construction, the novel framestructure including the ladder formation and the cross members of uniquedesign and the novel attachment of the body 102 of the frame membersprevents the cabinet case 101 from racking" when one corner thereof islifted. The novel bonding between the file cabinet body 102 and theframes also offers a good sound deadening effect as well as providing animproved bond between the parts.

The construction of one of the file drawers 200 will now be describedwith special reference to FIGS. 13 to 19 of the drawings. Referringfirst to FIG. 13, the file drawer 200 includes a bottom wall 201 that isgenerally rectangular in shape and has a width slightly less than theinner width of the cabinet case 101 and a length slightly less than thatof the cabinet case 101, the longitudinally extending inner edges of thebottom wall 201 carrying side walls 202 integral therewith and extendingupwardly therefrom substantially normal thereto and substantiallyparallel to each other. Provided centrally in the bottom wall 201 is anindex rod recess comprising a pair of downwardly directed flanges 203joined at the bottom by a lower wall 204, a pair of upstanding rearindex flanges 205 being provided as well as an index rod tab 206, alldisposed substantially normal to the lower wall 204 for holding the rearend of the index rod as will be described more fully hereinafter. 1

There further are provided rear bottom flanges 208 and rear side flanges20-7 disposed substantially normal respectively to the bottom wall 201and the side walls 202 (see FIG. 52 also). The upper edges of the sidewalls 202 carry thereon outwardly directed holding flanges 210 that inturn carry on the outer edges thereof upstanding flanges 211 which inturn carry on the upper edges thereof an inwardly directed top flange212 carrying on the inner edge thereof a dependent retaining flange 213,all as will be described more fully hereinafter. The rear end of theupstanding flanges 211 also carry inwardly directed flanges 214 (seeFIG. 52) and the holding flanges 210 have a plurality of substantiallyrectangular slots 215 formed therein for a purpose to be described morefully hereinafter.

The rear of the drawer 200 is closed by a rear wall

